Author Archive: Kate Jones

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Phil from Wallara talks about inclusion, choice and opportunities

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Phil from Wallara talks about inclusion, choice and opportunities
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This week, Kate flys solo chatting to Pea Dad Phil, CEO of Wallara, a leading provider of adult disability support services in Melbourne’s southeast. Phil has a young adult daughter Phoebe who has an intellectual disability and is non-verbal.

Following a 12-year stint working all over the world for the NBA, Phil took on the CEO role at Wallara. Wallara provides innovative support for people to grow, work, explore and live while also educating and engaging the community to drive inclusion. Wallara provides learning and lifestyle support, employment opportunities, supported housing, social and recreational activities and more. Wallara also runs a farm and cafe that welcomes over 15,000 visitors a year and has partnerships with organisations such as the St Kilda Football Club.

Kate and Phil have a robust discussion from a parent’s view about education, inclusion, ableism, choice, opportunities, wages and the Disability Support Pension and more!

Find out more about Wallara on their website, head down and visit the Sages Cottage Cafe & Farm and make sure you check out WallaraTV on YouTube.

Thanks for chatting with us Phil!

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

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Sarah chats about Wholesome Blends

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Sarah chats about Wholesome Blends
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Mandy and Kate chat to Sarah, twin mum and founder of Wholesome Blends, Australasia’s first real food option for enteral feeding.

Sarah was inspired to start Wholesome Blends by her twin son Lewis, who at the age of three, unexpectedly suffered a stroke and developed a hemiplegia. As a result, Lewis found the gross motor tasks of eating and swallowing to be very difficult and unpleasant. A subsequent diagnosis of ADHD also complicated matters, as Lewis also experienced the appetite suppressant effects of the ADHD medication, so Lewis was struggling to take in enough nutritious food to support his growth and development.

After a rectum comment of being told to choose whether her son would eat or learn, Sarah was determined to find a better solution for Lewis. Permanent tube feeding was the best option, but the blends available were high in sugar in not very appealing. So, Sarah founded Wholesome Blends!

Wholesome Blends are created by an Executive Chef in consultation with a Senior Dietitian and tested by Lewis, Chief Tubie of the company. Each pouch of Wholesome Blends is high in calories and contains nothing but fresh fruits, vegetables and proteins, with no added sugars, preservatives or additives.

Check out the Wholesome Blends website for more information on the flavours and stockists. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram

Thank you for sharing your family’s story with us Sarah!

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

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Power House Haney talks all her sister Fatima and how she started her own support service!

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Power House Haney talks all her sister Fatima and how she started her own support service!
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Today, Mandy and Kate chat with the amazing powerhouse Haney.

Mandy met Haney on the sidelines of Molly’s Special Olympics soccer game, and they hit it off straight away. Haney runs Holistic Quality Support. A fresh new, exciting support service!

Holistic Quality Support is a Melbourne owned and operated organisation established to provide care and support in an environment that encourages its

members to learn essential life skills all whilst developing social skills, relationships and most importantly confidence in our teams ability to navigate their

everyday lives as independently as possible.

admin@holisticqualitysupport.com.au

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

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Harry, Chelsea and Anna review the Special Olympics World Games 2023

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Harry, Chelsea and Anna review the Special Olympics World Games 2023
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Mandy went on an excursion to the Special Olympics Victorian State Games with her roving podcast mic and chatted with impressive young athletes and leaders Harry and Chelsea. Harry and Chelsea were attending the games following their trip to Berlin, where they represented Australia at the Special Olympics World Games 2023.

First, Harry talks about all the amazing experiences, friendships and fun he enjoyed at the Games. Harry also talks about his time in the Special OlympicsAthlete Leadership Program, where he learned leadership and communication skills and gained opportunities to provide feedback and consultation on making the Games the best experience possible. This outstanding young leader also chats about his qualifications and his current work as Allied Health Assistant at a Melbourne hospital.

Next, Chelsea talks about her Berlin games experience, and her current role in the Athlete Leadership Program, where she’s developing valuable skills, building relationships and finding opportunities to share her story, feel included and represent her country. This young powerhouse is also the Athlete’s Representative on the Law Enforcement Torch Run International Executive Council, where she is the representative for over 5 million athletes around the world, and only the second non-American athlete to hold the position.

Kate joins Mandy to chat with Anna Mezger, Harry’s mum and a Special Olympics Australia board member. She gives both a parent and board members view of the Special Olympics World Games, and all of the learnings she’s gained from attending the largest inclusive sporting event in the world, attended by 7000 athletes and 18000 volunteers!

Find out more about Special Olympics

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

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Physiotherapea Kathy talks about all-abilities soccer

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Physiotherapea Kathy talks about all-abilities soccer
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Mandy chats with Kathy Adams, a physiotherapea with 35 years of experience working with children and families. Kathy is passionate about providing encouragement, support and tools to help parents have fun with their children, help them grow, thrive and chase their goals and dreams together.

Kathy’s long and successful career started at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, where many years later, she provided physiotherapy to Mandy’s twin daughters Milly and Molly following their dual leg surgeries. Kathy now works in the community providing physiotherapy to children and also mentors and supports newer physiotherapists to develop their skills.

With soccer all the rage in Australia at the moment with the current FIFA Women’s World Cup underway on our shores, this was the ideal time to hear about Kathy’s new all-abilities soccer program that she’s started up in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs. Kathy was the Vice President of the Maroondah United Football Club, and was well aware that finding appropriate and engaging sports for kids with disabilities and special needs can be very tough for Pea families.

Inspired by one of the club’s coaches, whose soccer-loving daughter sadly passed away, Kathy finally started the all-abilities team so that he could coach and participate in her honour, while also providing new opportunities for local peashoots keen to participate and belong in a sports team.

It’s been a great success! The all-abilities team has approximately 21 children taking part each fortnight, having fun, smashing through smilestones and finding friendships and new connections in a place that’s inclusive and welcoming.

Based in Croydon, check out the Maroondah United Football Club’s Facebook page and get in touch if you’d like your child to be involved, volunteer or donate! You can also get in touch with Football Australia to search for information about all-abilities clubs around Australia.

Go Matildas and go Maroondah United Football Club All-Abilities team!

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Brooke talks about her beautiful boy Rye

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Brooke talks about her beautiful boy Rye
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Mandy and Kate chat with Brooke about her beautiful son Rye, who passed away a year ago at the age of twelve.

Brooke shares Rye’s story, from his birth following a stroke in utero, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy and unexplained medical conditions that led to a regression in his development over time.

With Rye’s birth occurring before the NDIS scheme began, Brooke was thrown into a new world of fundraising to pay for all of Rye’s many therapy and equipment needs.Brooke talks about many of the positive aspects of Rye’s life, from his supportive school environment, his troop of support workers, known as ‘Rye’s Babes’, who developed a close friendship group all thanks to Rye, his beautiful smile and his extended family who rallied around Brooke, Rye, her husband and two younger children to support them.

Rye progressively became more unwell and spent most of the final year of his life in hospital, before passing away. Brooke shares about his funeral, which was like a beautiful party, and a family member’s gift of a 12-year-old oak tree to plant in their garden in his memory.

Brooke also speaks about the journey of finding her feet again following Rye’s passing, and letting go of the life she built around his care, including all of the people who entered their life to help care for him. Brooke has now set up her own Pilates studio on the Mornington Peninsula as part of this new phase in her life.

Mornington Peninsula Peas, you can find Brooke at Balanced Pilates Studio and you can check out her Rye’s World Facebook page – you might even see a famous face in her family photos!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful Rye with us Brooke.

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Masterpea Julie finds the joy in cooking

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Masterpea Julie finds the joy in cooking
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Kate and Mandy chat with cook, author, radio and TV presenter and Australian Masterchef royalty Julie Goodwin!

The three met at a Neighbours Every Day event earlier in the year, when after chatting with Kate and Mandy, Julie discovered that she was a Pea! Julie has an adult son with autism and has plenty of experience in not only cooking up beautiful dishes on TV, but cooking to suit her son’s particular eating and food challenges. When Mandy and Kate told Julie that they’d always wanted to do a Too Peas episode on food, cooking and eating, Julie was well and truly up for the challenge.

Enjoy this amazing episode where Julie talks about her “wild” experience on the first season of Masterchef, the differences between ‘mum cooking’ and ‘fun cooking’ and how to find the joy in cooking for children with challenges such as food aversions, sensory and textural challenges, choking risks, fussiness and reluctance to change. Julie also gives some insider info on how she perfects her cookbook recipes, and some hot tips on making daily cooking less of a drag.

Keep an eye out for Julie’s upcoming new cookbook, with a name inspired by the late Masterchef judge Jock Zonfrillo, and her memoir also coming out soon.

Thanks for chatting with us Julie, it was an honour! For all the important info, including recipes, books and where to find her on socials, check out Julie’s website. Catch up on Masterchef on 10Play

Plus:

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! We love to hear from you, please contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: toopeaspodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.